"Open energy markets—which is the ability of oil and gas to flow to the purchaser—is really the core of our energy security," said David Goldwyn, the State Department's special envoy for international energy affairs. Making sure markets are open, fair, and transparent is one of five tenets of the administration's global energy security agenda that he discussed at a January 11 Director's Forum.

Peter Neumann, Visiting Fellow, Center for Peace and Security Studies, Georgetown University, and Director, International Centre for the Study of Radicalization and Political Violence, King's College London